Teach Your Child How To Improve Their Handwriting

 

Banish That Poor Handwriting Scrawl For Good!

 

So, dear reader, you’re pushed for time - I can see that. So either scroll down a bit for the article,

or download it for later.

What’s your preference for ‘consuming’ content? Do you want to get a beautiful infographic / poster for your child’s bedroom wall?

Download '9 Handwriting best practices' Infographic

 

 

 

Are you less of a reader and more of a 'watcher'? Then maybe this is for you:

I've made a 3 part video series where I explain these points in detail.

You can access the 3 part video series on Handwriting Best Practices here.

But if you’re old-school and just want to quickly scan through the 9 best practices, honed and tweaked after 20 years teaching kids to write more neatly, then check out the short (-ish) blog post below.

 

9 HANDWRITING BEST PRACTICES

 (...and how you can banish that poor handwriting scrawl for good!)

Hint: these work for ANY age - not just primary school children.

 

TIP No. 1: Choose the right tool

Many kids will write with a blunt pencil - sharpen it. Many kids will use a broken school pen (the red-cased ball-points - usually ‘Berol’). If they need to lift it to an upright angle, it needs changing. You can also buy specialist handwriting pens, designed to be more ergonomic for use. Fatter implements are easier to control than thinner ones.
 

TIP No. 2: Sit correctly for writing

The child’s body should be upright, sitting square on the chair, not leaning or twisting. Some kids find handwriting ‘wedges’ a help.

TIP No. 3: Correct finger grip

Two fingers and a thumb! ‘Finger grips’ can be purchased to help correct any other type of grip. The correct grip, as demonstrated in the video series, will make fine control much easier - but it’s more effective to correct when young.

TIP No. 4: Spare hand steadying the paper

A little thing, but one that many untidy writers don’t think about. Always use the spare hand to keep the paper still.

TIP No. 5: Straight Wrist

Some children write ‘round the back’ with a bent wrist. This makes fine motor control more difficult. The wrist needs to be straight.

TIP No. 6: Eyes focused on pencil tip

The handwriting equivalent of ‘keep your eyes on the ball’. Many children fail to do this.

TIP No. 7: Use correct letter sizes

One of the most impactful improvements any child can do is to learn the TWO letters sizes, and which is which. The video and the poster show and explain how you can teach this.

TIP No. 8: Form letters correctly

A quick visual assessment with a child simply writing each letter individually will tell you whether they are forming their letters correctly. Fail to do this and mistakes will feed through into cursive writing, making their writing even more untidy.

TIP No. 9: Keep elbow in

By doing this the child will retain more of the fine motor control of the fingers, whereas moving the elbow out encourages them to use more gross motor control, leading to untidy writing.

 

This is a VERY BRIEF outline of where the major issues lie, and how you can help. If you could like a reminder in greater detail, then simply download the free infographic here:

 

Download '9 Handwriting best practices' Infographic

 

 

And for even more in-depth explanation you can watch the free video!

 

Do you have good tips that you've seen work in the past? Do you think we should even be remotely interested in improving handwriting, given the move towards high-tech communication methods? Let me know in the comments below.

 

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